why cayenne pepper will not stop a determined dog

Actually, I have no idea why it doesn't stop her.  Stupid Samantha is intent upon digging up our cactus garden.  To be truthful, she's intent upon digging up anything that we plant in that stretch of dirt, because she dug it up when it was just dirt.  She's got this little burn on her nose now from the pepper, but did that stop her?  NO.

So my solution was a dog run.   I was vetoed though, by T's dad.  He said that it would make her more like a guard dog and less like a pet.  I kept my mouth shut.  T decided that instead, we would install two galvanized steel fence posts, six and a half feet above the ground, one and half feet below, and rig a pulley system like we had in Humboldt for Edward and Gigi.  This one is just for Sam though, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Edward is going to tease the crap out of her while she is on the line.  We put her on it for about 10 minutes yesterday while we were home, just to make sure the line would hold, and she just laid as close to the patio as she could and whined.  Great.  I'm sure the neighbors are going to love this.

Yesterday was our first Football Day, and for the most part, it was glorious.  We went on a ride in the AM with a bunch of the neighbors, so we missed the first half of the 10:00 games, which kind of bummed me out, but oh well, it wasn't like we missed the Chargers.

I didn't get to any housecleaning, so there is still Scentsy wax on the dining room floor from my attempt to "pour" hot wax out of the warmer.  FYI- Does not work.  I didn't even finish laundry all the way.

I got really frustrated with N yesterday, as did T.  He was just being unbearable to J and TT, like he was trying to tick them off.  And in all honesty, I'm getting a little fed up with S spending all of her time at our place.  I think they're starting to get sick of each other a little bit, but we'll see.  

In the world of knitting, I'm up another 10 rows on MPC.  I didn't get much done on it this weekend, but need to get moving if I'm going to do the top and bottom.  Right now, it's looking like just the hipster is going to get finished for Knit for the Cure.  We'll see though.  I'd love to offer a full set.


I didn't get the T shirt blanket back out yet, but I think I will tonight.  WOO MNF double headers!  Go Chargers!

why i must pay attention

because when I don't, I make mistakes!

Football and knitting are two things that should probably not be mixed, at least knitting that is not just garter or stockinette.  I made it to row 19 last night before making a mistake, and now I've got to tink to figure out where I goofed.  


Again I find myself blogging awfully early in the morning, but it is a Friday, and those are notorious for slowness.  At least this is more productive (and sounds more like work) than Carnival Catch Keno on Shockwave.


Plans for the weekend...Chili's tonight to visit our bartender (but I must slow down...he pours heavy and I always end up buzzed).  Giving blood tomorrow at 9:45; so hopefully my iron is good.  "9" tomorrow afternoon...WOO HOO!  I've been waiting for this since I saw Coraline!  I've gotta get a run in on Sunday, hopefully about 2.5, but I've not run since Monday, so we'll see how that goes.  I just need to break the seal and get back out there...especially since December is not that far away.


And Sunday, aside from running, is for FOOTBALL!!!!!  Hooray, the season has started again!  I absolutely adore football season.  And what a way to kick things off last night...wow!  I'm so excited that T and I get to go to a Chargers game this year too, and in the Bud Light Zone...field level.  SWEETNESS.


I think my KAL with myself for football season is going to be the T-shirt quilt.  That's quick and easy, and I really want to get that going again.  I have no idea how I'm going to piece it together, though.  Oh well; things to figure out once I've got a hell of a lot more squares.  :)

Ribbit....ribbit

I frogged the stupid hipster again. Third time may be the charm; we'll see. If it were just for me, than I would have no issues with the holey mess that it was turning into, but because it's for knit for the cure, I really want to get it right.

On a lighter note, Knitter's Anon last night was fantastic! Somehow, we got on linguistics and language, I think because of J's survey. Either way, it was so much fun to talk about language again, and J is just a wealth of knowledge that I wish I had. It was also a little bit frustrating to think about how much I've already forgotten from 3 years ago. And then to think that it was 3 years ago. Holy crap time flies.

Tomorrow is my two year anniversary at A___. Speaking of time flying. It's been amazing to see how much my black thumb continues...I'm like the curse of every workplace I've ever had. If I have to hear how great things used to be at every job I ever work at, I just don't know what I'll do. In this situation, though, I have watched things just deteriorate as our "strategy" morphs and fails every couple of months. I'm just hoping that the recent changes to management will really make a difference.

It's definitely September, and I'm struggling for people to call. Hence the 8am blogging. I love so much about my job, but this and April are two of the most painful months of the year.

Coffee coffee coffee coffee....MMMMMMM. I'm drinking my first cup of home-brewed, iced coffee and it's delish. This is my way to be economical and stop spending 20 bucks a week on coffee. Plus, I make it just the way I like it and get to pick my brew. It's the simple pleasures in life...

9 came out yesterday and I'm dying to go see it. It's amazing what a good song in a trailer can do for your desire to see a movie. I'm convinced it will be my new favorite movie, second only to Coraline (of late).

S said the "C" word this morning on our ride to work and inspired in me a mini panic attack...ACK, gifts I must knit! I haven't figured out what to do for everyone this year. The slippers last year were a quick fix, but I'm positive have gone unused by all recipients. Mom's Cubbies blanket was the gem of the season, and it was given unfinished, and remains un-backed. Oh well.

I've got to figure out some one-skein wonders that will just dazzle the fam; I know I can make M a plethora of headbands, and rather quickly. K can use winter gear, since she actually lives somewhere cold. I could come up with some clever skulls & crossbones scarf for T for on his bike, but no guarantees he'd ever wear it. Maybe this will be the Christmas of the scarf. Those are quick and painless, and I can do a lot of clever stuff with them. I've come a long way since S's long black and pink garter stitch mess. I suppose I could find enough unique patterns not to become bored, but that would be a true challenge for me to finish 7 or 8 scarves by Christmas.

I am the UFO queen. So let it be written...

Maybe I'll be able to do it for real this time...

...though I seriously doubt it.

talking about blogging, of course. I suck at this game. So for anyone who's out there, don't come to rely on me for daily doses of genius, because I flat out don't have them. I often don't know what to write about, and this can be as much of a chore as work if I allow it.

So

I will start with a what's on my needles right now.

1. Mon Petit Chou: this is my primary project for Knit for the Cure, and must be completed by Nov. 1st
2. Hush Hush: Also for Knit for the Cure, but doubtful that I will make the deadline.
3. Original creation: jumper in Baby Bunny. This will have to wait until I meet my deadlines.
4. Original creation: headband (though I actually have two of these going right now)
5. Trish's Mini Basque Corselette: To be honest though, I don't think I've touched this in over a month

I've got a lot of other UFOs, but seeing as how I've not touched them in months, I'm not going to count them here.

So where do I start? Well, MPC is fun, and I've done the hipster before. I know I can finish that by Nov 1. I think I might have HH be my Football KAL project, if there is a football KAL again. Maybe I'll have my own football KAL all by myself.

I'd hate to be an idea thief and post it to Ravelry as though it was my own.

BTW...I love Ravelry. Almost as much as I love my Wednesday night knitting group. Moving to North County was the best thing that ever happened to my knitting habit (other than Tyler living in Chile for a semester to get me started on knitting).

Okay, done for now. Maybe I'll come back to this in the afternoon. Gonna be a long one if I'm already blogging.

the solution to my problem of UFOs is...

....to pick a bigger project. Or so it seems. The Map-ghan is taking up all of my time and energy. I'm seriously going to have to stash it if I'm going to get anything else done. I'm working on that on football days and the Leaf Tee (trial version with acrylic before making Michelle's final version with Debbie Bliss Cathay) on non-football days, but I find the itch for the map-ghan on every day. I started Russia yesterday, and am almost done with North America! I'm about 80 rows shy of finishing one panel...in five weeks. Crap. I'm seriuosly going to have to bust out some maniacal knitting with this thing if I'm going to finish it by Christmas.

On to other topics besides knitting...the other thing that consumes my hours...the great House Hunt of '08. I'm working with two girls at work now to get some progress on this since the family friend clearly has other priorities beyond helping us. Sue said to go ahead and do it without the friend, and she was the one that suggested her, so off I go!

I've found of couple of properties with Potential (capital P). Several are fixers, but that could be all we can afford for now. Still no clue on that. Will find out from Laura tomorrow hopefully.

I'm addicted to looking for houses, and I doubt rehab exists for my obsessive watching of the market. Oh well. Everyone's gotta have a hobby, and this just makes me a little bit more well-rounded beyond just knitting! (GASP...life beyond knitting?!?)

Holy map of the world, Batman!

So...after being 2/3 of the way through my football "weekend" knitting, I'm a little overwhelmed. I got 48 rows done on the Mapghan and there are 337 rows in each panel. The boys did the math for me...each panel consists of 27,971 stitches...which means for all four panels, I'm at 111,884 stitches! THAT'S A LOT...holy crap.

I've gotta walk myself through some more math here, so bear with me. I'll probably finish another 10-15 rows tonight, so let's round and say I finish 60 rows for every four games I watch (though I didn't knit straight through on Sunday, and probably could have finished more rows). Anyway....60 rows for four games...337 rows for one panel. It's going to take me 22 games to finish one panel. I don't have that much time, so I'm going to have to buck up and really start knitting like a maniac on football days.

*BIG SIGH*

Took a little downtime...

This week I finished the striped afghan for Suzi and then took two days where I didn't touch my needles...HOLY CRAP that was hard! Thanks to the Football KAL for making me wait until game time to cast on the Map-ghan. I'm super excited about this project...I just hope I can finish it on time. I'm not going to count my yarn-winding as knitting time, though, so I'll be able to do some of that tonight.

SPEAKING OF WHICH! So I used a yarn-winder for the first time ever last night and it was officially one of the most fun things I've ever done. Not really, but it was pretty awesome. How bad would that be if the highlight of my life was a yarn-winder...which is not to say that yarn and notions are not allowed to rank up there, but yeah...

My chocolate is sending me messages. Sounds funny, I know, but check this out:See what I mean?!?!!?

A variety of interpretations here...but who's to say it doesn't mean giving in to knitting my KAL project on non-game days....is it Sunday yet?

In the meantime...in the world of WW this week does not exist. I "x" it. :) Good to be able to do that every now and then. Back on plan next week. I hit my 20lbs last week and it felt GOOD!

And back to life as we know it...ah, cubedom, how we love thee!